Container support



Oct. 2, 1934. J, RITTER, J19 1,975,291

CONTAINER SUPPORT Filed July 21.- 1935 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

2 vided with a central hub which coacted with a Patented Oct. 2, 1934 1 PATENT OFFICE 1,975,291 CONTAINER SUPPORT Julius Ritter, Jr., Racine, Wis, assignor to Hartmann Trunk Company, Racine, W1s., a corporation of -Wisconsin I Application July 21, 1933, Serial No. 681,484

7 Claims. (01. 19038) The present invention relates in general to improvements in container supports, and relates more specifically to an improved mounting for rotatably supporting atrunk or other type of luggage carrier so as to permit convenient access to the interior of the container.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a rotary support for a trunk having oppositely disposed luggage confining compartments therein, the support being associated with the central portion of one end of the trunk and permitting rotation of the latter about its longitudinal central axis so as to permit manipulation of the closures for the two' compartments without requiring the operator to shift or change position relative to the trunk support or base. In this prior device, the support consisted of a circular bottom member adapted to rest upon'the floor and carrying a metallic lower bearing plate probore in a rotary upper plate secured to the lower terposed between these upper and lower relatively rotatable plates. The use of the upper hearing plate was necessary because the ball bearings'were fixed relative to the base or lower plate; and hadrolling contact with the upper plate, andbecause of the fact that the individual bearing balls provided only point contact, they would eventually have cut into the lower wall of the trunk if they had been permitted to contact directly with this wall rather than with an intervening upper bearing plate secured'to thelower trunk wall. The use-of .metallic bearing plates construction, efiicient in operation, and which can be manufactured and applied totrunks of relatively standard construction at but moderate increase in cost and without undesirably enhancing the weight of the container. In the improved structure, a series of rollers which are attached directly to the lower wall of the trunk and are revolvable therewith, coact directly with the upper surface of a fibre covered base plate, and the trunk is maintained centrally of the base v plate with the aid of a simple pivot bolt. This construction permits the base plate to be disposed closely adjacent to the lower wall of the trunk, thereby materially enhancing the stability of the assembled structure.

A clear conception of an embodiment of the invention, and of the mode of constructing and of utilizing revolving trunk mountings built in accordance with the improvement, may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate the same orsimilar parts in the several views.

Fig. l is a top View of a standard two-compartment trunk having the improved mounting applied thereto, the compartment doors or closures being shown in closed position in full lines, and in partially open position in dot-and-dash lines;

Fig, 2 is a vertical section through the trunk and mounting, taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a full bottom View of the trunk and its end wall of the trunk, and ball hearings were in- ,mounting; and I Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the trunk with the supporting base plate removed.

While the invention has been illustrated herein as being specifically applied to a standard'two compartment trunk, it is not intended to limit the scope by such specific disclosure, and some of the novel features may obviously be more generally applicable.

The container or trunk comprises in general a box-like structure consisting of side walls 6, a sectional top 7, a one-piece bottom 8, a central vertical partition 9 dividing the trunk into oppositely disposed compartments, and doors or closures 10 for permitting access to the several compartments. The fixed section of the top 7 may be provided'with a handle 11, andeach of the closures 1O is hingedly attached to the adjacent side wall 6 and is provided with one'or more latches 12 cooperable with the other side wall 6 to maintairl the closure in closed position.

' The trunk bottom 8 is reenforced and thickened near its outer bottom edges, by means of several superimposed plates 13, 14 having concentric central openings therein, and these plates 13, 14

are rigidly attached to the bottom 8 and tome outer reenforcing plates 15, by means of pins or rivets 16. A circular base or supporting plate 17 H its lie

coacts with a central metallic washer 21 secured to the lower facing 19 of the base plate 1'7, and which has a reduced upper threaded end forming a shoulder 22 coacting with a similar washer 23 secured to the center or" the trunk bottom 8. The shoulder 22 of the bolt 20 may be pulled into snug engagement with the metal washer 23 by a nut 24 coacting with the threaded bolt end and with a washer 25, and a lock washer 26 may be inserted between the washer 25 and the trunk bottom 8. A cotter pin 27 may also be utilized to prevent release of the nut 24 in case the lock washer 26 fails, thus insuring rigid attachment of the bolt 20 to the trunk.

A series of rollers 28 rotatably supported in brackets 29 attached to the trunk bottom 8, coact along radial contact lines, with the upper facing 18 of the base plate 17, these rollers being confined within the space between the plate 17 and trunk bottom 8. Another series of casters or contact pieces 30, is attached to the lower facing 19 of the base plate 17, and these contact pieces 30 project downwardly below the lowermost portion of the trunk so as to permit free rotation of the latter about its central vertical axis and relative to the base plate 17.

When the trunk is resting upon the base plate 17 through the intermediary rollers 28, the entire assemblage may be slid along the floor, the contact pieces 30 taking the wear while the trunk proper is elevated from the floor sufiiciently to prevent damaging thereof. If it is desired to obtain access to either of the trunk compartments, this may be done from any point around the trunk, by merely rotating the same upon the base :plate 17 and about the central axis of the pivot ibolt 20. As the trunk is rotated, the rollers 28 ride upon the upper fibre facing 18 of the base plate 1'7, thus permitting rotation of the trunk with greatest ease. The head and the shoulder 22 of the bolt 20, are so spaced that minimum necessary clearance exists between the rollers 28 and the upper facing 18, and the pivot bolt 20 is effectively held rigid with the trunk bottom 8, by the nut 24 and the washers 23, 25, 26 coacting with the bolt 20. Any tendency toward tipping of the trunk is resisted by the bottom plates 13, 14, which also serves to enclose the rollers 28. The attachment of the roller brackets 29 to the trunk bottom 8 instead of to the base plate 17, also simplifies the structure; and the line contacts afforded by the rollers 28 coacting with the relatively hard facing 18, provide a durable structure. The improved construction presents a neat appearance, can be applied to any standard wardfrobe trunk, and has proven highly satisfactory in commercial use.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A container support comprising, a bottom formed rigid with the container and having a central circular recess, a series of rollers carried by said container bottom within said recess and spaced about the central axis thereof, a base plate having an upper surface disposed within said recess and coacting with said rollers, and a pivot connecting said plate and said container bottom and definitely spacing the former from the latter.

2. A container support comprising, a bottom formed rigid with the container and having a central circular recess, a series of brackets attached to said bottom within said recess, rollers journalled in said brackets within said recess,

lower of said plates and spaced from said bottom,

and a series of radially disposed rollers attached to said bottom and coacting with said base plate, said rollers being confined within the space between said plates and said bottom.

4. A container support comprising, a bottom{05 rigidly connected to the container, a series of rollers carried by said bottom and spaced about the central vertical axis of said container, a circular base plate having an upper hard facing coacting with said rollers, and acentral pivot connecting said plate and said bottom, said pivot being accessible and removable only from the lower side of said plate.

5. A container support comprising, integral side walls and a bottom and closures, hingedly con-' nected to said side walls on difierent sides of the container, an annular series ,of rollers carried by said bottom and spaced from the central vertical axis of the container, and a base plate pivotally attached to said bo'ttornandcoacting with said rollers, said base plate having an annular seriesof local supporting pieces at the bottom thereof.

6. A. container support comprising, a bottom formed rigid with the container and having a central circular recess, a seriesof anti-frictionf,

bearing members carried by said container bottom within said ,recess and spaced about the central axis thereof, a base having an upper surface disposed within said recess and coacting with said bearing members, and pivot means connect-' ing said base and said container bottom and definitely spacing the former from the latter.

"7. A container support comprising, a bottom formed rigid with the container and having a central circular recess, a series of anti-friction 1's:

bearing members disposed within said recess and spaced about the central axis thereof, a base having an upper surface disposed within said recess and coacting with said members, and pivot means connecting said base and said container bottom and definitely spacing the former'from the latter.

JULIUS BITTER, JR. 

